The first day of opening-round NIT action will begin on Tuesday, when the Alabama Crimson Tide host the Richmond Spiders at Coleman Coliseum. Alabama won two of its last three games during the regular season but fell in the second round of the SEC Tournament at the hands of Kentucky. The Spiders had won five in a row before seeing their NCAA Tournament hopes evaporate with an Atlantic 10 Tournament semifinal loss to VCU in overtime.

Size issues

Led by Atlantic 10 Player of the Year T. J. Cline, Richmond was a wave of momentum before running into the Rams, who eventually lost to Rhode Island in the championship game. The Spiders pushed VCU to extra time only to go down 87-77. Head coach Chris Mooney’s team will need to depend on its quickness and shooting against the Crimson Tide considering that Cline–at 6-foot-9–is the only starter over 6-foot-4 and the Spiders rank 325th in Division I in rebounding margin (minus-4.9 boards per game). Alabama, on the other hand, is No. 31 at plus-5.5 per outing. Cline (18.0 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 5.7 apg) is shooting better than 51 percent from the field and has been the Spiders’ jack-of-all-trades by leading the team in scoring, assists, and rebounds in his senior season.

Senior guard ShawnDre’ Jones (16.8 ppg), a third-team all-Atlantic 10 performer, is Richmond’s second-leading scorer and the Spiders’ best three-point shooter (39.6 percent). Sophomore guard Khwan Fore (11.0 ppg, team-leading 52 steals) and Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year De’Monte Buckingham (10.3 ppg, team-leading 23 blocked shots), who had a career-high 26 points in the loss to VCU, have proven to be solid contributors on both ends of the court. Buckingham led all freshmen in the Atlantic 10 in rebounds (5.7 rpg) during the regular season.

Tide is high

In his second year at the helm, Alabama head coach Avery Johnson has his program headed in the right direction with his top two scorers–forward Braxton Key and guard Dazon Ingram–both freshmen and an incoming recruiting class that includes three top 100 prospects.

“We are excited,” Johnson said of the NIT opportunity. “We saw some improvement in terms of our road record in the SEC this year. We showed some signs of improving with our overall record, but at the same time, if we had a better non-conference record we could be right there knocking on the door (of the NCAA Tournament).”Key (12.1 ppg, 52.3 percent shooting) and Ingram (10.6 ppg, team-leading 3.2 assists) are the only Crimson Tide players averaging in double-figures. Alabama’s interior defense and rebounding have been keys to its success with 6-foot-9 sophomore Donta Hall (5.9 ppg, 5.6 rpg) and 6-foot-10 senior Jimmie Taylor (5.2 ppg, 3.7 rpg) having combined to block 95 shots. Key is also pulling down 5.7 rebounds per contest. Junior Riley Norris (9.0 ppg) provides versatility with his ability to play multiple positions, while graduate student Corban Collins (6.6 ppg) and sophomore Avery Johnson Jr. (6.9 ppg), can provide some outside scoring punch although they are both shooting less than 35 percent from the field.